Counterpart
by Blackrock Soldier
Summary: "A clone could never match up to the original. I knew that more than anything." NanoCoffee/EchoSounds/LividEcho. / Yogscast fic


Before I came here, I never understood what love was. My heart, my soul, and my very existence was cold and static because Lalnable created me only to mirror someone real as a seemingly perfect copy. Lalna fell for it, and somehow along the way, I fell for him. It was quick. So quick that I could have sworn that feeling wasn't really mine. As if I was simply channeling someone else who felt such a deep attraction that it transcended all logic, and as quickly as I realized, I already knew it was Nano's fault.

My days revolved around her. Whether knowingly or unknowingly. From the first breath I ever took to the last I will ever take, she would always be the central player. An original could never be beaten by a fake. I knew that. I knew that more than anything. No amount of deception or pretending could put me above her. Even with an identical face, an identical voice, and my will to achieve my only purpose, I would fall short every time. And she knew that.

There was no fear in her eyes or worry about her identity being stolen. The one thing that kept her going everyday was that she knew exactly what set us apart. No one could take on the pain she had endured, or the experience she had gathered. Even if Lalna could be fooled for a second, she could show him the truth just as fast. In no time at all, my facade had crumbled and she stood there looking down on me, weapon at the ready to erase me from the world.

I deserved it. After running for so long, I was too tired to try and get away anymore. Failing to even complete the one thing I was created to do had taken my will to live away from me anyway. It was probably an incredibly pitiful sight as I fell to my knees and surrendered to her without a word, silently saying goodbye to my borrowed life that Lalnable had cursed me with and abandoned me with. He had disappeared days before I ever found myself at the end of my life, and honestly, even after everything he had done to me, I was happy that he would live. It was at that point that I truly saw how screwed up everything was. How much I needed to be put down.

The seconds that we shared as I waited for her to make a move turned to what seemed like hours. I just wanted it to be over. I just wanted to disappear. I had made my peace. I had said goodbye. My voice shook, but my patience had broken and I couldn't stop myself from being reckless. "What are you waiting for?! Kill me!"

"Specimen 5."

Her voice was so calm. It was such a difference from mine that it made me stop completely. I had been so ready to go against her before. I was ready for anything, but in such a situation where the tensions were rising by the second, it dropped off immediately as she finally broke the silence she had been keeping for so long.

Looking up to meet her eyes that held no animosity, I realized she never had any intention of killing me from the start. The weapon she held was for nothing more than defense and it had been moved out of the way to allow an outstretched hand to take it's place that reached out, inviting me to take hold. My first reaction was to go off and accuse her of manipulating me to trust her, but instead, I somehow wanted to question it. I just wanted to know why. "I don't understand..."

She seemed to fall back at such a question, but taking the step I wouldn't take and grabbing my hand to pick me up off the ground, she smiled softly; holding onto me as tenderly as possible, "I know you don't. I mean, all this time you've chased after me and blamed me for everything. It must go against everything you believe in, but listen, I've never wanted to harm you and I never will. You're a part of me. If you want to blame me and hate me for making you live with me after all this too, you have the right to do that. For now, just know that I'm gonna take care of you and the next time I see Lalnable, I'm gonna thank him and then flux him up, I promise."

Feeling her arms wrap around me tightly, I was completely at a loss of what to say even though there were so many options. Thank you? I'm sorry? Some things could be my fault too? No. I said what I had quickly realized even if she would probably think me weird. "Nano, your heart is so warm..."

Now, after the fallout and rebuild of my life, I'm here sandwiched between Lalna and Nano. My love that I received second hand from Nano has come through, and Lalna loves us both equally. We fight sometimes about it only to make up laughing at the thought that we're basically fighting with ourselves. I've gotten better from before and can laugh pretty naturally without forcing myself. The sadness is still there, but it doesn't hurt as much and I don't want to throw my life away anymore. I'm actually happy. Loved too.

Lalnable still hasn't showed his face, and Nano still goes on about beating him up everyday, but if he never shows up again, I think I'd be just fine. To see him again would probably throw me back to the past and bring me down. The present is so much more bearable and the warmth is so much more wonderful. Laying up at night, I just melt in it while thinking about nothing at all and everything at once.

Staring at Nano's sleeping face; her hand holding mine and Lalna sleeping behind me with his arm wrapped around us both, I'm finally drifting off to sleep.


End file.
